Lost Children
by Ookami of Chaos
Summary: RanmaUrusei Yatsura Crossover. Ranma left Nerima. Who knew? Ranma x ?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: All characters and intellectual property of Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura belong to Rumiko Takahashi, and I am NOT making a profit off of this.

* * *

Tomoboki was relatively peaceful this day. A gentle breeze swept through the streets as the sun cast gentle, warming rays down unto the Earth. Yes, it was rather serene. A distinct lack of chaos, one could say, was absent. It was almost palpable, this elegy of emptiness. 

All was right; that is, if one wasn't part of this humble community.

No. Those who reside here knew that it was only a matter of time, and if that time took too long to come then the resulting chaos would escalate until critical levels reached.

Why, one may ask, would someone fear something from this neighborhood? Isn't it an average community? Ha, it is to laugh. For this neighborhood, this small section of Japan had one thing that would spread terror into the hearts of all women.

Ataru Moroboshi.

Ataru Moroboshi is a young man, roughly seventeen years of age, and entirely unremarkable. Yet that is part of what makes him so unique: a small part, but a part nonetheless. He would be considered average considering his brown hair, eyes, and rather average height, but it was his actions that make him special. He is a skirt-chaser, a pervert, and the town loser. He is shameless, but he has qualities that are usually lost on the casual observer.

He is determined, which is more often than not seen in his plentiful girl hunting expeditions. Not that he really needed to, for there were more than enough beautiful women who he sees almost daily to their misgivings.

Which was awkward when considering the appearance of Lum, an alien from planet Uru, who practically landed directly in his lap. Of course the beginning was never so simple. Lum's father, for means unknown, invaded Earth. In lieu of an immediate military response from the Oni, Earth's fate would be decided through a game of tag. The aliens randomly chose Earth's contender, and therefore the fate of humanity came to rest on Ataru's shoulders.

Ataru's judgment was severely hindered upon sight of the luscious and scantily clad Lum, who was dressed in a tiger stripe top and bottom with matching knee-high footwear. She also sported elongated fangs, evident in her smirk, and two small horns atop her head, which were surrounded by a sea of long aquamarine hair.

He was also notably surprised to discover, after the race had already begun, that the beautiful alien could fly. Outmatched in all practical areas Ataru fell back on his most promising abilities.

Groping. In an attempt to grab Lum Ataru had lunged and took hold. His left hand, intentionally or not, had taken hold of Lum's breast, which he was then able to pry her top off. Lum, in embarrassment and rage, flew off to her shuttle forgetting about her stolen clothing.

Ataru, in a way that only Ataru could and with the declaration of marriage from Shinobu Miyake upon his success, used the top to his advantage, and managed to trick Lum into his range where he had finally grabbed the small horns atop Lum's head. Yelling in joy over his victory he vaguely threw out the word marriage, upon which Lum misinterpreted and declared her acceptance of their, Lum and Ataru's, marriage.

That is merely the beginning of a long line of random and chaotic events. Soon, however, the area of Tomobiki-cho would be witness to improbable events that would boggle the mind.

Some would only view these events a commonplace, though; a casual acceptance of one's chaotic life and the consequences that follow it.

An old Chinese proverb said, "May you live in interesting times."

It was going to be one wild ride.

* * *

One person walked the empty streets of Tomobiki-cho this afternoon. He was tall, but not overly so, and quite unique. It's not everyday that someone wore unique clothing, in other words Chinese silks, while carrying a large pack through a residential area. He walked with a grace rarely seen, and an ease, which told of hidden strength. Not that anyone was there to see it, but if they were it _would_ have been an unusual sight.

This individual is Ranma Saotome: a man of confidence, intrigue, and martial arts prowess. He bowed to no one, and made sure that, if there were any doubt, he would always be the best.

"What am I gonna' do now?"

He was also quite lost. Not like Ryouga, only he could be that hopeless, but like that of a man with no clue about what to do with his life.

"S'not like I can go back. Not with the way I up and left 'em."

Ranma was clearly upset over whatever the past events had wrought.

"Don't care no more. It's in the past."

True. Ranma had been traveling for little over three weeks. That should have been enough time to make them think he'd gone off to China to try and find a cure. The whole gang would be there in no time flat, but Nabs would be a problem. Someone was bound to pay her if she didn't take his disappearance as a challenge. Kami-sama, could that woman track.

It's also why he chose to come here. Tomobiki-cho was close but far enough to send people off his trail. Besides, this place had its own weirdness running around, or so he had heard. Some alien invasion crap and crazy, perverted kids. Not very different from Nerima, actually. If he was caught in the crossfire he could always claim to be an alien. It's not like those things really exist, though. Right?

Well, Ranma would find out in due time. But for now he had to find a place to stop. Camping out was fine for him. He had been doing it most of his life, really. All he really needed was an empty lot to stop in before he could find a job. If things went smoothly he might even be able pay for room and board!

So caught up in his thoughts Ranma utterly failed to notice the truck that was moving down the perpendicular alley. Why the truck was there, and why it was moving in that particular direction is a mystery. But the following events could be seen from a mile away.

Ranma's finely honed danger senses failed to go off as he made a right into the next alley. He turned, in a last ditch effort to understand his situation, just in time to see the grill of the truck as it smashed into him and, consequently, sent him flying.

Ha! Like a truck could hurt Ranma Saotome. Poor misguided fools. He was helpless though, being in midair and all. Oh well, can't have everything.

He also failed to notice the rain that seemingly followed the truck…

* * *

Walking along another street farther away from the moving truck was Ataru Moroboshi, the town lecher. Strangely absent was Lum, his alien fiancé, who usually kept careful watch over Ataru despite her lack of success in her efforts to prevent his skirt chasing.

He was walking home from school, and was almost there too, when he heard the most damning whistling. It wasn't the usual type of whistling where someone would toss out some well-known melody. No, this was the type of whistling that was associated with objects such as missiles, or bombs, or aliens dropping out of the sky to deliver divine retribution, or…

_**Shoooooo…**, **Wham!**_

With all the grace of a falling anvil the human missile plunged into concrete leaving a small, almost human shaped, crater in the street.

The truck that caused this incident also passed by, but went unnoticed by Ataru as he stared intently at the newly formed crater. The rain, which most certainly would have caught his attention if not for the fact that a _very_ feminine hand reached out of the hole to pull up the rest of its body.

Do the following events need explanation? Probably not, but what the hell.

Giving himself up to instinct Ataru lunged upon seeing a curvaceous redhead struggle out of the manmade hole. Foregoing an outright glomp, Ataru aided the young woman by pulling her out.

Ranma, as he was most of the time, was confused. He would usually get a lot more distance from a speeding truck, if constant malletings could be used to judge. He also, somehow, turned into a girl, which only registered when she felt unwelcome hands wander over _very_ unwelcome parts of her body.

"Gyahh! Don't touch me!" **Wham** Ataru was flung a short distance courtesy of the Ranma Express, which consisted of a slightly pulled right hook and his jaw. It was to Ranma's exceptional surprise that the lecher shook off the blow and teleported besides her.

Honestly, what was Ataru supposed to do when he saw the drop dead gorgeous redhead heaving slightly, while wearing a sopping wet Chinese silk shirt that pronounced her features _very_ clearly, while looking slightly flustered?

Right. Don't answer that.

Putting some restraint on his lust, not that he had much in the first place, Ataru tried to get the attention of the mysterious redhead.

She paid him no mind, outwardly anyway, as she dug around in the crater. Finding what she wanted she pulled, revealing her slightly worn backpack.

Finding an opening Ataru made a grab for the pack, which surprised Ranma slightly.

"Here miss. Let me help you with that!" Ataru said enthusiastically, a little too much for Ranma's tastes.

Ranma needn't have worried, not that he had in the first place, as he witnessed Ataru lift the pack for an entirety of three seconds before dropping the heavy object on his foot. Hopping and cursing ensued.

All in all, it was a classic greeting that one Ranma Saotome usually went through.

After his hopping subsided, Ataru turned to his reluctant companion and attempted not to drool. His primary objectives completed, those being the grope and lunge, he moved onto his secondary list of operations. In other words…

"Hey, hey, hey…what's your address? Phone number?"

Ranma watched the hopeful idiot with a wry smile. He honestly thought he would have a chance. Not that Ranma was _that_ way. Oh no. Hammering a nail into his eye would be more preferable to him than _that_. It was just the principle of the thing.

"Don't got any. Nice try, though." It was amusing, if a little pathetic, to see the teens face not change in the slightest.

"Okay then, how about tea?"

"Damn, he's not giving up," thought Ranma. So he thought of all the reasons why he shouldn't pound this guy's face in. Outside of the obvious of him being a lecher and an idiot, and the fact that Ranma most definitely did _not_ swing that way, he really couldn't find any. Besides, he could get some food, and he really didn't have any money…

The Saotome stomach chose that moment to speak up.

"Well, what do I got to lose?" Ranma muttered to herself.

"Whoohoo!"

Oh yeah, that's what he had to lose. His dignity.

With a sigh Ranma picked herself off and reluctantly followed.

* * *

Ranma found herself inside a cozy little teashop not too far away from where she had agreed to the offer of tea from the overenthusiastic teen she had met once she was freed from the self-made crater. The inside was a bright, western style, setting with comforting pale yellow walls and a tiled floor. Elaborate weaves were present among the chairs and tables, giving off the impression of class despite the restaurants more humble nature.

It was actually a break from the slightly more strenuous trip to the place. For some reason the less populated street had filled considerably when they had walked through it. The people were really weird too, and kept staring at her muttering, "How did Ataru _do_ it?" or, "He's going to get it, later." It was like she was standing in the middle of a huge spotlight, and she had forgotten her lines.

Ataru was oblivious, and remained so, as they walked to the café.

They were seated near the center of the sparsely populated café at a small circular table. They quickly ordered their tea and Ataru, never missing a beat, attempted conversation.

"What's your name, and what's with the pack?"

Ranma had to wonder if this was really worth it. Her stomach's growl promptly answered the unspoken question. Better take some liberties, though.

"…Ranko." Ranma answered after a short pause. No use in giving the guy her real name. "And I'm traveling."

"Ah, life on the road. What a cruel fate for one of your beauty!"

"Is this guy serious?" Ranma thought. Then he remembered a certain deranged kendoist. Ranma felt a small amount of dread at the thought.

Ranma's attention was brought back by Ataru's hand being waved in her face. Obviously she was more out of it than she had originally thought, for their tea and side dishes were already there.

"Uh, sorry 'bout that. Memories, y'know?" It was obvious that it was not a question that was going to be answered, but more of an appeasement for her lapse in attention.

"No prob! I'm Ataru, and welcome to Tomobiki-cho!" He was grinning like an idiot, which was appropriate from what Ranma had gathered from him, and was practically bouncing in his seat.

Ranma kept glancing around, as if she were uneasy. Her hair was starting to stand on end, just ever so slightly, and klaxons were beginning to sound in her head, telling her to get the hell out of there. She couldn't see any danger, but then again she didn't see that truck either.

She was about to shovel the food and tea down her throat and leave, saying she was in a hurry, but the chime of the café door opening stopped her short. There she spotted a very beautiful young woman wearing a very revealing tiger striped bikini. She, of course, missed the small horns and fangs, but for good reason. The lightning arcing around her body was _very_ distracting. As it was she just barely noticed the man in front subtly point in their direction.

"Uh, not that I like to be a killjoy or nutthin, but do you know a girl with greenish hair, blue eyes, wears a tiger striped bikini, and…uh…floats?"

Ataru looked slightly taken aback, but responded with an unsure, "yes".

"How did you know?"

Ranma nodded to herself and crossed her arms. "You might want to turn around."

And Ataru did. Right into Lum, in fact.

"Darling," she said it oh so sweetly, so much that it was almost disarming, but her smile readily destroyed the thought. "What-cha doing?"

The lightning was a pretty good effect, Ranma decided.

"Uh, I'm showing her around?" He sounded unsure of himself when he replied.

Wrong answer.

Lum tackled him and let her lightning loose. The resulting brawl had quite a few consequences that the casual observer would rather not think about.

First, Lum's initial lunge knocked Ataru into the table, which the tea was deposited on. Secondly, Ranma was caught by surprise when he discovered that the lightning wasn't just an effect, but the real thing, and therefore did not realize that a cup of tea was coming at him until it was far too late to act. Thirdly, the tea hit her.

Now it should be said that Ranma expected this to happen; he really did. It's just that he couldn't do anything about it, and he hated the fact that, no matter how good his day may be going, something was going to come by and ruin it. Though he was amused by their reactions. That was always fun.

Lum was the first to notice mainly because she was facing his direction. The puzzled and curious expression seemed to suit her best, as it was her nature. Her wide eyes blinked furiously as she looked at the sopping wet martial artist.

"How'd-cha do that?"

Ranma knew he couldn't lie to save his life, so he didn't waste any time trying. Besides, they'd find out sooner or later, anyway.

"It's a curse. Cold water turns me into a girl, and hot water to boy."

Her blinking slowed, but she still looked confused. "So, what are you?"

It was funny, now that he thought about it. No one had ever asked him that question before. "A boy."

"Ah," was her succulent reply. "And you were with Darling…why?"

"Eh. I just did it for the food."

Her mouth formed in an undoubtedly cute 'o', as Ataru came back to the land of the living.

"So who the hell are you, anyway?" Ataru had heard Lum's questions and the stranger's answers. Just because he was catatonic didn't mean he was inept. He wasn't happy that the cute redhead was really a guy, either. Not that he had entirely believed it; he still needed visual proof that the transformation actually happened after all.

The pigtailed martial artist sighed and brought a hand to the base of his neck, scratching it.

"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this."

Dead. Silence.

* * *

"What!" Cried one of the café's customers. "_The_ Ranma Saotome? Ranma Saotome of the Masubetsu Kakuto-ryu? Ranma Saotome, the sole reason for the bargain property costs in Nerima? _That_ Ranma Saotome?"

**_Groan_** "Looks like I gained a reputation when I wasn't lookin'," he mumbled. "Yeah, guess so."

Suddenly the café became more crowded.

The cooks cried. They thought he was only an urban legend! They thought it was a joke their competitors told them. Seriously, a kid that could clean out an all you can eat buffet, then destroy it afterwards in a fit of chaos?

The girls swooned. They were in the presence of a martial arts god! Just look at those muscles!

Ranma was in hell. He knew that what he did was a little bit out of the ordinary, but he didn't think things would be like this! He needed to get out of here _now_.

Spotting an opening, Ranma quickly stood up, picked up his pack, thanked Ataru for the food, and jumped out the window.

Spectators shied away from the shattered glass and the figure that plowed straight through it as it made its way to the rooftops.

* * *

It was on their way home when Lum and Ataru next met the sex-changing martial artist. He was in an empty lot setting up camp. He already had his tent set up, and was preparing a fire. It had the makings of a cold night, the air being refreshingly cool from the earlier rain.

They walked up to him, and he waved a greeting.

"Hey, sorry 'bout bailing out on you guys before." Ranma sheepishly apologized. It wasn't like it was really his fault, but it was in a roundabout sort of way.

"It's not a problem," Ataru replied.

"So what-cha doing out here." Lum was slightly confused. The only other person she had seen camp out in an empty lot before was Cherry, and she had no clue why Ranma would want to camp outside.

"Settin' up camp. I don't have a place to stay, I just got in town, ya know. Doubt anybody would want to put up with me anyway, seeing how word about me spread this far…"

Hearing that, Lum pulled Ataru aside. "Darling," she began, "why not invite him in?"

"Why? We barely know the guy, and he really hasn't done anything other than cheat me out of a few yen."

"You would have wasted the money on some other girl anyway."

"So?"

"Please?"

Damn it, she was using _that_ look. The terrible puppy-dog eyes, the technique straight from the depths of Hell itself. Oh, the horror. "Fine."

He turned back to Ranma, who was now pulling out some rations from his pack.

"Hey Ranma," he called, "You want to stop by our place for a bit."

Startled by the request Ranma dropped the food packets and looked up at Ataru. "You sure ya wanna put up with me? I mean," he fumbled, "I attract all sorts of weird, and stuff…" Inwardly he was delighted. It usually took ages for him to find actual friends, and it looked like these people wanted to give it a try.

"Why not," Ataru replied. "It's not like this place can get any weirder, right?"

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

* * *

The inside of the Moroboshi household was rather cozy, despite the small size. Ataru and Lum led Ranma up the stairs to their room, or so Ranma surmised. Not that there were many places in the house to guide him through in the first place.

They entered the room on the right, and Ranma found himself in a spacious room occupied by a desk and kotatsu, and a…_Twitch_

Ranma froze up just outside of the door, staring fixedly on the large black and white spotted cat sitting at the kotatsu.

The others watched with some small amount of fascination, and fear, as Ranma twitched and shuddered, his eyes glazing over as his mind receded to its darkest edges.

"Hey Ranma, you okay?" Ataru, ever the brave soul, sacrificed himself as a conversation starter in vain hopes of bringing Ranma back to reality.

"C, ca-…"

"Uh, cat? Ranma?" Lum became more concerned as their guest's twitching upped in frequency from the mention of that word.

Ranma's mind worked in speeds beyond overdrive at the moment, hoping to reign in his intense phobia before he could cause any damage to his host's home. It was all he could do really since his motor functions locked up on sight of the massive ca-…feline. He lost whatever battle he had begun when the demon stood up and took a handful of steps toward him.

When it stopped directly in front of him and waved a hand in his face, Ranma did the only logical thing given the circumstances.

He fainted.

Ranma Saotome, self-proclaimed best martial artist, had dropped like a sack of potatoes in the middle of the hallway. He was lucky that he had fainted because the sole reason for his predicament hauled him up to its shoulder and lugged his dead weight into the room.

Those who remained conscious collectively wondered what the hell was going on, with minor differences of course.

"Things are going to be a lot more interesting around here with him around."

"You've got that right." A playful, saccharine sweet voice replied.

The remaining occupants whirled towards the window where the voice had come from. What they saw left Ataru momentarily frozen, and Lum confused.

There, in the window, stood a beautiful woman who very much resembled Lum. If it weren't for her eyes, those oh so very crimson eyes, then she could have been passed off as Lum's twin. Aquamarine hair flowed like waves down to her lower back, the top of her head adorned by two small horns, and she sported fangs that were quite clearly seen from her smile. She wore a tiger striped bikini top much like Lum's, but had foregone the bottom for a pair of matching pants.

Her smile widened as she gazed upon the other, startled, Oni.

"It's been a long time, Sister."

* * *

Authors Note: 

Hello everybody! This is my first fanfiction if you can't tell. I wanted to give Ranma 1/2 Urusei Yatsura crossover a try.

For those of you who have read and/or reviewed the original prologue, then this one probably looked very different. My excuses are listed in my profile, so I'm not going to bother listing them here. The original was just filled with plot holes and it was spiraling very far away from what I wanted out of it. I am much happier with this rendition, and I hope all of you are too.

Thank you to all of you who have reviewed.

Any questions or comments are greatly appreciated, and please send them to me via email (in my profile). I would also appreciate it if/when someone who leaves an anonymous reply that they give me some way to contact them. It would be easier on me to understand what it is someone did not like, and that is harder when the reply itself is not as descriptive as it could be. Thank you.

If you liked the story thus far I might be able to get a larger update out sometime in December.


	2. And Now

Disclaimer: All characters and intellectual property of Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura belong to Rumiko Takahashi, and I am NOT making a profit off of this.

* * *

Everyone's attention shifted to the sudden arrival of the one who claimed to be Lum's sister. The comatose martial artist would have been thankful that the prying eyes were now off his person, but he was mercifully asleep and lacked the awareness to make that observation.

Ataru barely began his lunge when he felt a tug at the back of his shirt. Turning to find what had hindered him, he was quite surprised to find that Lum had a firm hold on him and an unusually serious expression on her face.

"Aw, you couldn't have possibly forgotten me Lum-chan," the stranger remarked playfully after witnessing Lum's change in mood.

"Of course I haven't." Lum's voice was completely flat, and Ataru winced seeing that she still hadn't let go of him. All cuteness and naiveté disappeared from her person at the sight of her sister.

"Oh come _on_!" She said, infuriated. "You can't still be mad about that? It was just one time! How could I have known?"

"It wasn't just one time, and you know it."

And it wasn't either. Lum and her sister, being the vivacious vixens that they are, were much like any other siblings in the whole galaxy. That is, they were extremely competitive with each other, as well as their possessions. In their early years they had competed for toys, and as they grew older so did their competitive nature. The subject of their conversation, however, remains a mystery.

To an outsider the banter looked like it was rehearsed, or that it was an old argument. Either way, it was unsettling seeing Lum stare someone down with little to no inflection in her expression. Ataru's thoughts were along the same line, but he was placed between the two irate females; a place few men want to be. It was also quite convenient that he knew nothing about what they were talking about. A semi perfect mix for chaos, but they were missing an ingredient, so to speak.

"Listen, we're not going anywhere with this, okay? Just promise me something, and I'll let it go." She stared pointedly at her sister, her gaze not wavering in the slightest as she made her declaration.

"Name it."

Lum nodded at the premature agreement. "Darling," she stressed the word by tugging Ataru closer to her, "is off limits. I know you have that whole fiancé situation to sort out, so don't even think of using Darling as an out?"

The woman pouted. It was one of those pouts that, although it lacked seriousness, looked seriously cute, and it would have dropped many of unsuspecting males to their knees to appease the young woman.

It didn't affect Lum as she stared forward resolutely. Ataru, likewise, took turns staring at both women wondering what his options were, and if he was likely to get out of the situation unscathed.

The less scantily clad of the two sighed seeing her pout of incredible cuteness would not work on her sister. "Okay, you win. No touching."

Lum nodded, and all the tension washed away as she smiled. "Thank you, sister." At least now she didn't have to worry about her sister trying to steal Darling, not that she would if she learned of his outings. She wouldn't put it past Ataru to try something however, and hoped the thought of her being his sister-in-law would put a stop to such attempts.

"Darling, this is my sister, Lin." She really didn't know what else to say. Lin's appearance was a complete surprise, and had blindsided her badly despite her immediate control of the situation.

Lin floated over to them and appeared to be searching Ataru. "Not much, is he?"

"Sister!" Lum was enraged. How dare her sister judge Darling!

"Kidding! I was kidding. Sorry." Lin waved her hands frantically in an appeasing gesture, trying to settle Lum down. It was only a joke, honest! Besides, her sister's lightning really _hurt_. She did not want to be on her bad side right now.

Calming slightly, Lum fired a question back to Lin. "Any luck on the fiancé front?"

Lin winced, a gesture not lost on Ataru, whom remained respectfully quiet for once.

"It's not going so well," she sounded genuinely upset. "Daddy just won't stop sending them, you know? And they're all _so_ persistent!" Now she sounded indignant, as if that were a shortcoming of the supposedly numerous suitors.

"And that's a bad thing?" Ataru, after an unusual bout of silence, asked.

"Of course it is." She sighed tiredly, genuinely upset about the situation. "They're like dogs chasing after a piece of fresh meat. It's disgusting! I came here to catch a break."

Lum was sympathetic for her sister. Her father had done something similar not so long ago. Throwing a huge engagement party without her knowing, and not even inviting Ataru? She loved her father, but even she knew the man was a little overzealous concerning his daughter's welfare.

Ataru also thought of that unfortunate event. He spent three whole days recovering from the ordeal; his back stuck in one position from being stuck in Jariten's ship. He fervently hoped that something like that would not happen again.

So caught up in their thoughts they failed to notice the awakening form of the huddled and twitchy mass in the far corner of the room.

* * *

Ranma truly did not want to wake up. His day was eventful to say the least, but not the kind of eventful that would be associated with the average person. No, he was Ranma Saotome, and he did _nothing_ by halves. If his day started out bad it would end much worse, despite his attempts to make the opposite possible.

He had the indescribable feeling that things were going to go from bad to worse _very_ fast. It was comprised of dread and curiosity, but no matter how large the feeling of dread he would always stick it out. The damned small amount of curiosity held him back long enough to let him know what he was in for. The feeling grew as consciousness returned to him, and he evaluated the situation before opening his eyes. The two he met earlier were still there, and the furry demon was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully. He hoped, but there was something else, and it encompassed all of his senses. Except sight, of course: his eyes were still closed after all.

Feeling it safe enough to open his eyes, he did so. His eyes confirmed what he had sensed, and even what he, assumedly, did not; he could _feel_ and familiarize, but he could not see until he opened his eyes. His eyes trailed over each occupant, but ultimately fixed upon Lin. The new arrival was _saturated_ in strange energies. But that was not all. He could feel the emotions she emanated, her aura clear as crystal. There was a large amount of joy, but underneath it all was a sickly green of depression. Similar to the Shishi Houkodan, but it lacked the focus and mass to actually cause harm; to others as well as herself.

That's all he could get from her. Her appearance was much like the other girl's, Lum if he remembered correctly, but she had crimson eyes and she wore slightly more clothing, but no less revealing. Her hair was also longer, reaching to her waist in greenish blue waves, and she had those small horns, and those fangs…

He really didn't want to deal with this, not now. He just got away from all his problems, and now he had to deal with _this_? It just wasn't his day. Trucks, rain, perverts; bring them on. But demons? That was just too much for Ranma to handle in one day.

Ranma felt that after the events of the day, and demons, his hosts would understand his sudden and stealthy departure.

"Crazy people," he muttered. He moved silently towards the door, and was just about to open it before it slid open upon its own volition. What stood there dashed any hope of Ranma escaping.

* * *

"Ahhh!" **_Wham_ **The room's occupants jolted at the sudden noise and turned to the source. What they found was highly amusing, and also quite pathetic.

In the door stood Kotatsu-neko with a plate full of crackers. Apparently the large cat spirit felt that he owed Ataru and company for the earlier show, or he was just hungry and decided to share. Whatever.

Ranma, on the other hand, had backed away from the cat at an incredible speed, and still continued despite being up against the wall.

"Darling!"

"Already on it."

Ataru was running interference with the large spirit while Lum moved to block Ranma's view. It took some small amount of coaxing from Ataru, and the relinquishing of the kotatsu, but he managed in sending Kotatsu-neko out for the night.

Realizing his sanity was not being threatened by the hulking demon, Ranma had calmed down significantly. He also realized that all eyes were now on him, as they often were. "Um, I can explain," he blurted.

"I certainly hope so." Lin had been quite surprised by Ranma's reaction to the cat. Sure it was exceptionally large, but it didn't seem that imposing or intimidating.

It didn't look like he would get away without an explanation unless he bolted for the window, but that would be running away. Ranma Saotome never ran away. It was always a tactical retreat, much like what had happened earlier at the café. But now he was cornered, in a way.

"Well… It's just a side effect from training," he looked resigned and let out a tired little sigh. How many times would he have to explain this? "It's called the Neko-ken. Pops taught it ta me when I was a kid."

"Training? What kind of training?" Lum, who only knew basic Earth customs, was curious about what would make someone so afraid of cats.

Ranma looked slightly uncomfortable as he prepared to explain the next part, which usually gathered the most enraged expressions from everyone.

"Well, ya just wrap the person up in fish cakes, then toss 'em in a pit of starvin' c-ca…felines-"

"What!" Lin's cry startled everybody but Ranma, and only because he expected it. "How old were you when this happened?" The question was more a demand than anything else.

"Eh, I think about…six? Yeah, that sounds about right." Ranma was completely nonchalant having already gone through this process several times.

"Six? Six!" Lin was absolutely incensed now. To think, a child being subjected to that kind of torture! "And your father did this to you? How can you be so calm about this?"

"It's not that bad."

"Not that bad," Ataru mumbled, caught flatfooted at the martial artist's lack of appropriate anger. He couldn't even imagine what kind of damage that event would have on a person, and he was slightly worried that Ranma didn't even seem to care.

"Yeah. Throwin me in six times was a bit much, and the next page did say only an idiot would try an' teach it, but it is an invincible technique. The Old Ghoul couldn't even touch me," he boasted, feeling proud of this fact.

He made it sound as if it were some kind of accomplishment, but with the audiences lack of knowledge about Nerima and the chaos within it, it was safe to say that they were suitably unimpressed by the ability to defeat an old woman. They were also slightly shaken by Ranma's admittance to not only being thrown into a pit of starving cats, not even denying that his own father did this, but that he was thrown in _multiple_ times. It was simply too much for Lin as she dropped to her bottom gaping in shock.

"No wonder you're afraid of cats," Lin mused, dumbfounded.

"Hey! I ain't afraid of nothin!"

"…Right. So you don't mind if I bring Kotatsu-neko back? It's quite cold tonight."

Ranma immediately broke into a light sweat at Ataru's suggestion. "No, that's okay," he replied a little too quickly.

"Are there any other side effects?" Lin wasn't quite sure what to think about this. Built up psychological trauma usually did not have likeable effects, but Ranma seemed relatively well adjusted…

"Well, sometimes I start actin' like one of 'em. I don't know what goes on when that happens, but don't start pickin' no fights with me when I'm like that." Ranma heavily stressed the last point. These people seemed nice enough, and he probably wouldn't attack them anyway, but better to be safe than sorry.

"You…act like a cat." Lin stopped trying to question Ranma and just accepted whatever crazy things spouted from his mouth.

"Yup. It wouldn't be that bad, but I don't remember stuff when it happens."

Lin sighed. It looked like Ranma didn't know how bad this was, or maybe he just didn't care. She barely knew the young man, but she needed to do something. It was unacceptable to be subjected to that kind of mental trauma.

"Who are ya, anyway?" Ranma's sudden change of subject had the effect of bringing everyone out of their stupor. "I mean," He continued, "I don't mind sharing' this stuff with you guys, I do owe ya an explanation, but I don't know you guys at all."

"Oh, um…" Lin was slightly flustered by her oversight. Of course normal (Ha!) people wouldn't know what she was. She was prying into this person's secrets without even introducing herself. Poor manners indeed. "I'm Lin, Lum's sister. "We're…" She really didn't know how to say this, "We're aliens."

"Oh, okay."

**_Wham_** The oddly quiet pair (read: Ataru and Lum) facefaulted. Ataru because Ranma casually accepted the existence of aliens, and Lum because she was practicing the silly Earth customs her Darling used.

"You mean to say," Ataru began rising from the floor, "that these two being aliens comes as no surprise to you?"

"Nah." Ranma waved off their astonished looks. "Actually, it's a relief." Ranma left a longer pause, watching the expressions of confusion blossoming on their faces. "I thought ya were demons, or something."

A moment of silence for the dead man, please.

"De-demons?" Lin stuttered, slightly irritated.

"Yeah, you know the horns and fangs," Ranma continued listing traits unaware of the impending doom hanging over his head. "The red eyes, the flying, lack of clothes. Like a succu…damn it. What do you call them sex demons?"

"Succubus?" Ataru piped up also unaware of the danger to his person.

"Yeah, that's it. Succubus, that's what I thought ya were." Ranma nodded to himself, satisfied at the explanation.

Neither man noticed the slight glow emanating from neither Lin, nor the twitching and lightning from Lum. The twitching eyebrows, if one failed to notice the obvious, also served as a representation of their dissatisfaction.

"Succubus, huh?" Lin's voice sounded slightly strained, as if even the thought were distasteful.

Ranma nodded still blissfully ignorant that his running mouth once again landed him in a difficult situation.

"Darling," Lum had used her sickeningly sweet voice, "You never thought I was a succubus, did you?"

Ataru had finally managed to put two and two together, and he did not like the result. Turning to what would be the inevitable divine retribution he said, "Of course not." He said it in a very believable way, but he was frantically sweating and would not look her in the eye.

Lum's hair started rising from the electricity.

Ataru took that as a sign to start running, so he did. Lum was, likewise, right on his heels, her electricity writhing frantically around her arms.

Ranma wasn't so lucky. Instead of focusing on his continued survival and good health as he should have, he was pondering on the advantages of flight to his style, and if he could somehow replicate the feat by studying it in use. This had the unfortunate consequence of being in range of whatever Lin was projecting.

In truth the white glow lacked any intimidation factor, but her posture and scowl all but labeled her as a tiger about to pounce on its unsuspecting prey. Her tiger striped clothing greatly augmented this fact. Like all women Ranma had ever met, they too had, inevitably, reached the same conclusion in regard to his running mouth.

"You jerk!" The same conclusion was also an inevitable happenstance of Ranma's nature.

He received no physical abuse this time, which to Ranma's confused mind was a blessing. However what did happen shook him.

Lin's gentle white aura blazed into blinding white, obscuring his vision and temporarily disorienting him. Tendrils grasped at him, tugging at his limbs, and engulfing his senses. It was painful, to say the least; feeling as if his limbs were stretching well beyond their limits. Every nerve was on fire, and it penetrated to his very core.

It was a short-lived experience, however, and he slowly realized that the feeling had stopped. His closed eyes opened, and he blinked out the white spots adorning his vision. He was slightly dizzy, but he was also already sitting down, and therefore did not feel the full extent of his dizziness. Shaking his head to rid himself of whatever ailed him, he looked towards the source.

What he found was a heavily panting Lin sprawled out on the floor in front of him. Her white aura had extinguished, and she was covered in a light sheen of sweat. Her eyes were closed, and her brow had furrowed, as if she were feeling some incredible discomfort.

Ranma felt the disgusting feeling of dread well up inside his gut as he looked closer. She was breathing, that he was sure of, but something felt incredibly wrong about the situation. He couldn't feel anything from her. It was as if everything was drained from her…

"Oh shit." With that Ranma launched forward to the struggling young women and placed his hands over her chest.

"I hope this works…" Ranma then began to glow, his mighty blue aura whipping outwards. After a moments concentration the glow shifted down towards his hands, and then there was a pulse, like a heartbeat, but much more powerful. He began channeling his life energy into the comatose alien, his gaze never wavering from her face checking for the faintest trace of color in her skin. So focused was he that he never realized the audience watching over the odd spectacle.

Ranma felt his body failing, and straining against the loss of ki, but he did not waver. He couldn't, not when he could help it. Not when there was a life at stake. Sweat gathered on his furrowed brow, and his eyes were forcing themselves closed, but he would not let them.

Just when his body was about to give out he noticed her labored breathing had subsided, and she now lay in a peaceful slumber.

Ranma smiled triumphantly, then collapsed in an exhausted heap over Lin's prone form.

Lum, who had rushed back to the room the moment she saw the searing white light, gaped in shock and no small amount of worry.

"Is this bad?" Ataru was slightly singed, but that didn't stop him from rushing back to make sure everything was okay. Lum's mute headshake did nothing to calm him.

"An ill omen indeed."

Ataru reacted immediately and planted Cherry, the short and gluttonous monk, into the tatami via his foot. "Stop scarin' us with that ugly face!" Ataru exclaimed none too pleased with Cherry's appearance.

"Not that I mind the abuse to my uncle, but we're here to help." The voice belonged to Sakura, the voluptuous Tomobiki High nurse and shrine priestess. She was dressed in full priestess garb and wielding her wand to ward off demons and the like. "We felt the pulse and saw the lightshow on our way to the shrine," she explained.

"Sakura!" Ataru, as he was wont to do, lunged to accept Sakura's curvaceous body. Sakura, after dealing with many similar styles of attack from the young lecher, immediately deflected his approach with a none too gentle backhand.

Lum still had not moved.

Moving to the more approachable of the two Sakura surveyed what she had come here for. "Do you know these two, Lum?"

Lum nodded in the affirmative and pointed to each comatose teen. "That's Ranma, and that's my sister Lin."

Sakura separated the lying figures and placed them parallel to each other, each lying on their backs. The girl looked almost perfectly fine, but exhausted. What she found from the other patient was much more devastating.

"His life force is severely drained, and there's something else." Sakura was relaying her discoveries to her, now free, uncle. "There's something darker here too, but it's so mixed up with several energies. I can't make heads or tales of it."

"Amazing," stated Cherry. "What happened here?"

"We didn't see what caused the flash, but we found Ranma surrounded by this blue light and pumping it into Lin." Ataru couldn't even begin to comprehend the situation. It was just that damned confusing, and especially because he missed the first half of the spectacle.

"Really? This boy here?" Sakura asked doubtfully, but no less intense.

Ataru could only nod.

"Surprising. Such a young one too." Cherry's mumbles only served to confuse Ataru, who was the only one paying attention.

"I don't think there's anything we can do until they're awake. There is so much we don't know. Lum? Can you contact us when these two wake up? We'll be over as fast as we can"

"Of course," Lum answered Sakura's inquiry distractedly, her mind already in a far off place.

"Well, then we bid you farewell." And with that Sakura and Cherry went downstairs where Ataru's mother yelled, "Stay out of the kitchen!"

Ataru sighed. "Looks like we're not having dinner tonight."

* * *

"What…what is this place?"

Ranma had awoken to only find himself in an infinitely black void. It was completely uninhabited, aside from him. No noise existed in the void, and as far as he could tell there was no direction. But images started appearing, like ghosts, and then vanished an instant later. Thoughts? Memories?

Ranma couldn't tell. He couldn't recognize any of the images, and when he finally managed to see one of them they had fluttered away in a nonexistent breeze.

"Huh. Maybe this is what happens when you die? An eternity of confusion."

As soon as Ranma uttered those words a white flash appeared. It was small, but it grew as each second passed. It grew and grew, until, finally, something emerged. It was vaguely humanoid, but its features were lost as the white light encompassed it like a halo.

"Oh come on!" Ranma indignantly exclaimed, and, apparently, shocking the figure bathed in white. "I couldn't have kicked the bucket already!"

The figure started shaking after hearing Ranma's outburst. Then it let out a small gasp as it curled up on itself. Finally, as it could take no more, it released a joyous hysterical laugh at the martial artist's peril.

"Hey! Who ya laughin' at? Death is a serious thing!" Ranma's exclamation only provoked more giggles to burst from the decidedly feminine laughter. Unwilling to take much more of the humiliating feeling of being laughed at Ranma stalked closer.

"Hey, you're that Demon Chick from before." That was enough to stop Lin's laughter as she remembered what had gotten the two in this situation in the first place. She settled for glaring at the jerk, as if it were his entire fault.

"Don't look at me like that. If it weren't for ya almost dieing and all we wouldn't be here."

"Do you honestly believe that?" She asked, and only received a nod from Ranma. She sighed. "It takes two to tango, my friend."

"Wait. When were we dancing?"

She stared at him in a mixture of awe and confusion. Certainly, no one could be that dense.

Apparently Ranma was that dense as he only looked more confused as the moments passed.

"Right, well moving on. Do you know where we are?" It looked as if she already knew the answer, but wanted to give the pigtailed youth a chance to redeem himself.

"Hell?" Close enough when all is said and done.

She sighed, again. It seemed like she would be doing a lot more sighing from then on. "No, we're not in Hell…yet. We're in my mind."

"Oh, so that would explain the emptiness and fleeting thoughts." Saotome foot in mouth disease; it just doesn't stop.

Lin twitched. "Excuse me, can you please not insult me until we're out of this mess?"

"When did I insult you?" Ranma asked, confused. He only made an observation. What was wrong with that? Crazy chick.

"Listen, just follow me and hope we make it out of here in one piece." With that she turned on her heel and stomped back into the white opening. The effect was lost in the featureless void.

"Whatever you say. It's your mind."

* * *

"Look. It's not that I don't appreciate you saving my life. I really do. But did you even consider the consequences of what you did, whatever you did." Lin was walking beside Ranma as they traversed a more lively section of her mind. They were currently walking through an endless forest clearing with a very large tree in the center. They couldn't tell if it was in the middle because it was endless, but it was better to think that it actually was.

"There wasn't any time. If I didn't do what I did then you would be dead now." Ranma couldn't see what the problem was. She was alive; they both were, so there was no reason to argue the point.

"But you could have died!"

"So what? I couldn't have let you die. Not when I coulda done something."

Lin would have been flattered by the way he put it, but she was still indignantly upset at him.

By now they had reached the enormous tree, and Lin moved about its trunk searching for something. Ranma dutifully followed. "Whatcha looking for?"

"A door."

Ranma blinked. "There's a door in the tree." It was more a statement than a question.

"Yup."

Ranma blinked once more at her casual answer. "Okay." A pause. "So, can ya explain what these consequences are?"

"Well, for one you could have died, but I already said that." She continued searching for a door as she talked. "If you messed up I could have died, but that didn't happen."

"So, because I didn't screw up, nothing bad will happen?"

"Depends on your definition of bad."

"I don't like the sound of that."

Lin found the door and opened it. "You have no idea."

* * *

"I-it's so…" Ranma was speechless as he ventured into the next section of her mind. He raised a hand to his eyes to block the sudden glare.

"Don't say it." Lin pleaded. She knew what to expect, and therefore did not want it pointed out.

"…Pink."

It was true. The entire room, for it looked like a giant child's room, was covered wall to wall with bright, fluorescent, girly pink. The utter girlyness caused Ranma to shudder, as all men are wont to do, when faced with such blatant pinkness.

"_Why_ is it so pink?"

"You know what they say about the inner child?"

"Yeah. Wait…you mean it's true?"

Lin nodded as they passed by an army of giant teddy bears and dolls. Their beady eyes seemed to follow the pair all the way across the room.

"Lets get the hell outta here."

"You don't need to tell me." Lin opened the small door within the enormous door and left the nightmare behind.

* * *

"Whoa." Ranma let out an awed breath as he looked upon the center object.

Lin groaned as she reacquainted herself with _this_ particular section of her mind.

"So, what?" Continued Ranma. "Were you into martial arts?"

"When I was younger, yeah." Lin admitted, slightly embarrassed by what stood in the room. "No one knew how to train me, and our race rely mostly on technology rather than physical combat."

Ranma nodded at her explanation still staring at the center figure. "I'm surprised ya actually know about it. Being in space and all."

"Yes, well…we have our ways."

"I'm sure ya do."

"Can we just get out of here?"

"Sure, sure."

They made it to the door and were about to leave when Ranma said, "Never woulda pegged you for a Bruce Lee fan."

* * *

"Ho-ly shit. Is that what I think it is?"

"Yup."

They now stood at the edge of a very dense forest overlooking a clearing. It was complete down to the very particles in the air, which were thick and heavy with humidity. Sweat poured down their bodies as they stood, watching the monstrosity in the clearing.

"It's a giant monkey."

"That it is."

"It's…a giant monkey." Ranma couldn't seem to grasp the fact, and continued staring at the monstrous primate.

"Do you have something against giant monkeys?"

"No, but…It's a giant monkey."

"Okay," now Lin was getting annoyed. "Can we stop stalling and think of a way past it."

Ranma shook himself from his stupor and nodded. "Can you fly?"

"No. It's probably one of the side-effects from what you did."

"Okay. I think I got an idea. Hold on tight."

"Wha-" She was cut off as Ranma picked her up in his arms and bolted towards the giant monkey. Her eyes widened considerably when Ranma burst into motion and dashed into the clearing. To her credit she did not scream as Ranma approached the giant primate.

Said giant primate finally noticed them and launched a massive fist at Ranma's blurring form.

Ranma dodged to the right and jumped on the hand as it was pulled back. The monkey was none too pleased, however, and shook its arm to rid itself of the pest.

Ranma once again jumped, and twisted to avoid the other hand as it lunged at him. He dropped the rest of the way to the ground, an impressive thirty feet, and dashed to the forest's edge, dodging the massive tail as it swung at him.

Ranma stopped a good distance into the foliage looking none the worse for wear. Lin, however, looked ragged from the ordeal. Her wide eyes had a glazed quality to them and stared off into the distance. Her hair was frazzled, and her breathing was quick.

"Um, you okay?"

Lin only nodded.

"You can let go now."

Lin maintained her death grip on Ranma's neck. Ranma, in turn, sighed seeing that his companion would not regain her senses for some time.

* * *

Lin had finally regained enough of her senses to guide Ranma to the exit.

Lin sighed in relief. "This is the last one."

"Pretty nice place." Ranma was impressed with this room. It was composed entirely of white marble. White light poured in through high windows, bathing the stone in an ethereal white. In the center stood a majestic fountain. Its water shimmered in the light, and gave the room an entirely relaxing feel.

Lin was still slightly shaken by the events with the giant monkey and took a seat at the edge of the fountain.

Ranma took a seat beside her, still glancing in wonder at the marvelous room. "You know, you never did explain why I'm in your mind in the first place.

"No, I didn't." She looked into the water, as if she would find solace in it. "I think its because you pumped so much of your life energy into me to keep me alive." She sighed. "Have you noticed anything strange happening to you?"

Ranma blinked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I just thought there might be side effects from what happened, our minds being temporarily melded as they are."

"Don't feel any different. Maybe we got lucky?"

"I hope so."

"So," Ranma clapped his hands together once, looking much more cheerful that a few moments ago. "How do we get outta here?"

"Yeah, that's the easy part. You just have to drink the water and bam! Instant coma. We'll be awake in our respective bodies in no time."

"That's not so bad. It doesn't make any sense, but it's not so bad. Woulda been a whole lot easier if we had this a while ago."

"You're telling me."

With that they drank, and slumped in sweet, sweet unconsciousness.

* * *

"They've been out for a while, haven't they?" Lum looked over from the sleeping teens to Ataru, who had asked the question. Her usually beautiful cerulean eyes were red, and the dark bags under her eyes were telltale signs of her exhaustion. She nodded once, slowly, in confirmation.

Ataru looked similarly tired. His hair was mussed to levels beyond normal and it looked as if he hadn't slept in ages. He was currently sitting at the kotatsu, having retrieved it from Kotatsu-neko, munching away at some brand name bag of chips.

"Do you think-" Ataru was interrupted by the more bulky of the two lying masses groaning, waking from his extended slumber.

"Ugh…never doin' that ever again." Ranma moaned as he sat up, muscles protesting from their lack of use. His head spun when he righted himself, and he put a hand to his head to ward off the pounding headache he was feeling. "Where am I?"

"Same place you were three days ago." Ataru responded.

"Oh yeah." He turned to Lum who was still watching her sister in worry. "She'll be up in a minute or two." Lum brightened at Ranma's reassurance, but still looked dead tired. "Three days? Did ya guys stay up waitin' for us?"

"Yeah," Ataru mumbled. "Wanted to make sure nothin' else happened, you know? 'Sides, Lum's worried sick about her sister."

Ranma nodded in understanding, and moved to join Ataru at the kotatsu hoping to sate his insatiable stomach.

A moment passed in silence, and just like Ranma said Lin awoke. As she sat up and let out a jaw-cracking yawn, Lum had pounced on her in a rib-crushing hug.

"Ack! Lum…need…air."

Ataru noticed that Lin was turning slightly blue in the face. "Lum, you might want to loosen you're grip."

Lum did so with a slightly ashamed look, but didn't let go of her sister.

Taking in large gulps of sweet air, Lin turned and smiled at her sister. "Come on, you didn't think a small thing like this would keep me down, did you?"

"Nope. Just a little worried though." Lum sagged in relief, no longer resisting her exhaustion.

"Almost forgot," Ataru stood. "I'll be right back. Gotta make a call," he explained and walked downstairs.

"Ah! Such an accursed face!"

"Holy!" Ranma shot straight up, a surprising feet considering that he was still in the sitting position. He looked down at the ugliest gnome he had ever seen. "What the hell are _you_?"

"Well, if you must know, I am a monk." He watched as Ranma extricated himself from the ceiling and drop back down to the floor. "And I must say that I have never seen one as cursed as you!"

"Tell me something I don't know!" Ranma's exclamation had alerted Ataru, who ran back to the room as quickly as he could. He was also attached to Sakura's side, much to her annoyance.

"Let go of me!" _**Wham**_ Ataru was planted in the ground via Sakura's fist.

Ataru, however, got right back up, the only signs of actually being injured were the small bump on his head where Sakura's fist enthusiastically greeted it, and the tatami weave on his face.

"Well, I can see that they are awake and-" She abruptly stopped and gazed at the pigtailed martial artist in wonder. "How in the world are you moving?" She exclaimed.

Ranma puffed his chest slightly and wore his patented cocky smile. "Nothin' keeps Ranma Saotome down, lady."

"But," Sakura began, "You should have been bedridden for _weeks_! I haven't seen someone so drained in all my life."

"Eh." Ranma shrugged. "I heal pretty fast." He was confidant in his abilities, after all. "Surprised I didn't wake up sooner, to tell the truth."

Sakura gaped while the others looked on with amusement, no matter how lost they truly were. Cherry, however, wore a contemplating expression on his, admittedly, ugly mug.

"Tell me boy," Ranma bristled slightly at the 'boy' comment, "Would you by any chance be related to a Genma Saotome?"

"Never heard of him." Ranma said quickly. It would have been a passable lie if it were not for his nervous sweat, and the fact that his eyes darted around the room not looking anyone in the eye. It was almost painful to watch. "Why?" He continued with a slight strain to his voice.

"Oh, no reason," Cherry continued aware of the boy's pitiful attempt at a lie. "I just remember that he and his son wandered by our shrine some ten years ago."

"Really? He didn't…steal nothing, did he?" Ranma was pretty sure of what the answer was, but felt that he needed to hear it anyway.

"Just a few valuable, irreplaceable scrolls on ki manipulation, but you wouldn't know anything about that now, would you?" Cherry took a sideways glance at Ranma, watching his reactions from the corner of his eye. He was slightly satisfied by Ranma's nervous twitch. He went in for the kill.

"He also promised his son to my niece for those very same scrolls."

"He WHAT?" Ranma and Sakura and Ataru burst into motion and loomed over the diminutive form of Cherry. Ranma grabbed Cherry by the lapels of his robe, and lifted him up to eye level.

"My, you're so enthusiastic! And you don't even know this Genma person!"

Ranma dropped Cherry and stuttered a response, realizing he had just given himself away. "O-of course not! I don't know any Genma. It's…It's just the principle of the thing!"

No one believed him for a second.

"Uncle, I can't believe you'd do something so foolish!" Sakura screamed.

"I can," muttered Ataru, not really trusting of Cherry and his capability to think things through.

"Calm down. I promised no such thing." Relieved sighs resounded around the room. "I wouldn't worry too much, boy. I'm not going to ask for you to repay me for what Genma has done. I can see the techniques went to good use."

"Back to the topic at hand," Sakura glared down at her uncle, "We would like to know what happened here three days ago." She now looked to Ranma. "Just how did you lose most of you life energy?"

Ranma shrugged. "Probably from pumping it all into Lin over there." He jerked a thumb back in the general direction of the aliens.

"You what?" Sakura looked downright shocked at the nonchalant admittance. "You could have killed her!"

That had the effect of bringing Lum to attention, and she leveled a glare at Ranma. Ranma either didn't notice it, or just didn't care for the blue-eyed alien's ire.

"Yeah, I know. Lin told me. 'Sides, if I didn't she woulda died anyway."

Ataru looked confused. "When did you talk to Lin?" He asked. "We were in the room the whole time you were out, and you didn't say a thing when you woke up."

"She told me when we were inside her head." Several people shared a look at that statement. It was the type of look that said, 'there's a crazy person in the room'.

Lin chuckled nervously. "Sorry about him. He's still a bit delirious from the coma, right Ranma?"

"Nope. I'm perfectly fine." Ranma continued, oblivious of Lin's desire to keep it a secret. "It was a pretty weird place, what with the giant monkey and all. Though the statue of Bru-"

Ranma was abruptly cut off by Lin's hand, which now covered his mouth. She had moved so fast that to the others she was just a blur. Lum, especially, because she still had her sister in a hug when she moved. He leveled a glare at her as she dragged him outside the room and pinned him against the wall. "What was that for?"

"You will _never_," she put extra emphasis on the word 'never', just in case, "_Ever_ speak of the statue. Are we clear?"

"Um, okay. I don't see what the big deal is, though. It was actually pretty cool."

"Listen, I just don't want people knowing about that. Not now, not ever."

"Sure," Ranma, despite not seeing what the problem was, appeased the young woman. "But don't you think it's sorta suspicious, dragging me out here and all?"

"Maybe," she replied, "But I wanted to make this _absolutely_ clear."

Ranma nodded, reassuring her. "Can we go back inside now?"

Lin released him and walked back through the door, unmindful of the curious looks from the room's occupants.

Ranma sighed to himself. "Crazy demon chick," he mumbled, and followed her inside.

Sakura waited until they were all seated before firing off any more questions. When Ranma's attention was back on her, she continued. "How did you become so good at ki manipulation?" To her it was an exceedingly rare talent, which was restricted to practitioners who were well on in there years. It seemed like such an impossibility that this young man had that ability.

"Been training all my life. It's not so difficult when your whole life's the Art."

"The Art?" Ataru questioned.

"Martial arts."

Sakura was still unconvinced. "I still don't believe it."

"Not my place to make you believe, lady." Ranma was beginning to become annoyed by the inquiry. "Living proof's right over there." He gestured to Lin.

"Bad choice of words." Ataru looked amused as he said this.

Ranma winced. "Yeah, my bad."

"Fine, if you're going to be that way then we'll just leave." Sakura hoped the loss of their help would lead Ranma to reveal what he knew.

"Okay. Goodbye." Ranma waved, not even looking in their direction.

Sakura deflated, her ruse not working. She looked around the room with a hopeful gaze.

Ataru and Lum both shrugged. "Everything seems fine, and we don't have enough food to keep Cherry here any longer."

The diminutive monk had just finished another of Ataru's snack bags and was currently searching for another.

Sakura grabbed her uncle by the back of his shirt and hauled him up. "Very well. Then we're off."

Without turning around, but obviously waiting for someone to stop her, Sakura walked out the door.

There was a moment of silence, which was to be broken by a loud growl from Ranma's stomach. "I'm starving." He looked over to Ataru. "There any all you can eat places 'round here?"

"I know one." He looked over at the martial artist, pondering something. "Want to make a bet?"

"What kind of bet we talking about?" Ranma grinned, knowing where this was leading.

"Whoever eats the most doesn't have to pay, and the loser pays for everyone?"

Ranma grinned like the cat that ate the proverbial canary. "You're on."

To be continued…

* * *

Well, here's chapter one for ya. Hope you guys liked it. 

It's not as long as I wanted it to be, but I felt it was a good place to end it. The next chapter will probably get things rolling, so here's to hoping.

Reviews are, as always, appreciated even if you just want to point out my many inadequacies as a writer.

Farewell my fellow readers! Until the next update!

* * *


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